Title: The Indian television melodrama: a vehicle for social innovation

Authors: Kovid Gupta

Addresses: The University of Texas at Austin, 12010 Sunrise Way, Houston, Texas, 77065, USA

Abstract: In stark comparison to its western counterparts, Indian television has a relatively short history. Due to the evolution in telecommunications and media over the past few decades, however, it has managed to evolve into a giant form of entertainment with a wide range of offerings. Since the advent of Indian television and its influx in the entertainment market, the family drama genre has remained one of its most popular components. More specifically, the role of the Indian female in the melodrama has garnered a great deal of importance. This research paper provides an overview of Indian television's family drama genre, exploring the format, narrative structure, and blueprint of popular cable TV serials. This paper discusses the programme Baa Bahoo Aur Baby, a mainstream commercial soap opera that used the classic blueprint of Indian dramas juxtaposed with a unique story-telling format to serve as a communicator of vital social messages. We examine Baa Bahoo Aur Baby as a case study in this overall analysis on the changing face of Indian television, and the ways in which the serial has manifested itself through a unique form of presentation, still garnering high viewership in the process.

Keywords: Indian television; TV melodrama; social innovation; information; family dramas; soaps; soap operas; India; women in melodramas; females in melodramas; format; narrative structure; cable TV serials; social messages.

DOI: 10.1504/IJIIM.2013.053797

International Journal of Intercultural Information Management, 2013 Vol.3 No.2, pp.192 - 205

Received: 24 Oct 2012
Accepted: 05 Feb 2013
Published online: 29 Jul 2014 *

Full-text access for editors Full-text access for subscribers Purchase this article Comment on this article